The Best Note-Taking Apps of 2018 Jot down thoughts, take pictures of things you want to remember, and keep it all at your fingertips, across your devices, with a top-rated note-taking app. Most note-taking apps utilize notebooks or folders, but Bear focuses on tags, which are easier to manage in the long run. Just insert something like #work in a note, and the tag acts like a folder. You can even add sub-tags, like #work/email.
Note-taking apps are not all created equal. In fact, the deeper you dig into them, the more you realize how different they all are in terms of what they offer in both concept and abilities. While a solid note-taking app is a necessary piece of any suite of productivity apps, figuring out what to do with it in the first place is half the challenge.
Getting the right note-taking app is as much about finding one that clicks with you as it is about the nitty-gritty details of the service. In general, however, a reliable note-taking app lets you jot down all the things you want to remember quickly, easily, no matter where you are, and likewise lets you refer to all those notes anytime and anywhere.
The giants in the space, namely Editors' Choice Evernote and
Evernote caused a ruckus over the past few years among its paying users for hiking the price and slashing the lower tiers of service. While many people are thinking about leaving Evernote, the sad state of affairs at the moment is that nothing lives up to it. If you use the full gamut of Evernote's features and functionality, there simply isn't a good Evernote alternative just yet. OneNote is a close second, but transitioning to it from Evernote is tough. The two services have structural differences that make it difficult to map one set of notes into the other app.
There are alternatives, of course, and
Pricing and Plans
A huge part of the reason people got miffed at Evernote was its price hike. It costs more than any other note-taking and syncing app. While it does have a free version, nonpaying Evernote members are limited to syncing their notes
Evernote accounts come in four tiers of service: Basic (free), Plus ($34.99 per year or $3.99 per month), Premium ($69.99 per year or $7.99 per month), and Evernote Business. The free tier lets you upload only 60MB of data each month, but the data you use is yours to keep. So technically speaking, the total storage is unlimited because you get more every month ad infinitum. Plus and Premium members can upload more and get a whole host of features that aren't included for free.
Google Keep is free with no upsells or special plans. All it requires is a Google account. The amount of storage space you get in Keep is dependent on your Google Drive storage, which is 15GB by default. You can pay $1.99 per month for 1TB of storage, which will be shared across all Google apps. There is an upload limit for images of 10MB and 25MP.
Microsoft OneNote handles storage similarly to Google Keep, using OneDrive for storage the same way Keep uses Google Drive. OneNote is also free with no special upgrades for extra features. The max file upload size is 100MB. Free users get 5GB of space, whereas Office 365 account holders get 1TB all told, shared among other Office Online apps. An Office 365 Personal account costs $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year.
Simplenote is a free service with no upgrades or in-app purchases. It has a variety of apps for all major platforms, and there is no limit on storage, so long as you don't abuse it, according to the company's terms. Simplenote doesn't support uploads, multimedia, or even formatting—just text. It's worth noting that you'd have a hard time abusing limitless storage with plain text.
Features Worth Having
A few features worth having
OCR comes in handy when snapping pictures of text. Google Keep can actually transcribe text that's in an image into typed text that you can then copy and paste or edit at will. Evernote Premium can run OCR on all text in images, including handwriting, when you look for words in a search. Microsoft OneNote can also read OCR text from photos. It also has a useful Digital Ink feature that turns your own handwriting into
A Web
In terms of organizational tools, every app is different, but the important thing is you have an interface that makes sense to you and that helps you find what you need when you need it. Evernote uses notes, notebooks, stacks of notebooks, and tags, whereas OneNote has pages, sections, and notebooks. Both Simplenote and Google Keep only use tags, so if you prefer to not think about where you're putting your notes, those tools might be better options.
Take Notes, Sync, and Go
While Evernote remains PCMag's Editors' Choice for note-taking and syncing apps, we did lower its overall rating to reflect its drop in value after the changes in its pricing and services. Hopefully, the uproar caused by Evernote will light a fire under competitors to hurry up and improve their apps. There are a lot of promising apps, but most of them need more time to mature. The read the capsule reviews below, and, if one of them sounds interesting, please be sure to click through to the full review for more details.
Featured Note-Taking App Reviews:
Evernote Review
MSRP: $0.00Pros: Effortless note-taking and syncing. Incredible search. Great features. Flexible.
Cons: Free level of service too restrictive. Expensive Premium plan.
Bottom Line: Evernote has long been one of the best productivity apps. Even though rising costs have lessened the value proposition, long-time users will have a hard time finding a better replacement.
Read ReviewMicrosoft OneNote (Web) Review
MSRP: $6.99Pros: Rich with features. Reliable. Treats all note content as distinct page elements. Familiar interface for Office users. Office 365 users get 1TB of space.
Cons: Slow and clunky. Confusing structural design. Poor search in Web app. Requires OneDrive for some management features. Can only share at the notebook level.
Bottom Line: OneNote is a feature-rich note-taking and syncing app, and it gives away a lot for free. But it's still second best to Evernote.
Read ReviewQuip Review
MSRP: $12.00Pros: Combines team messaging with collaborative document creation and editing tools. Quick to set up. Easy to use. Free version available. Supported by Zapier.
Cons: No team calendar or other apps to add. Interface could be more sophisticated. No rich markup tools. Lacks explicit limits on storage space for free accounts. Limited API.
Bottom Line: Quip is a team collaboration tool for both document editing and group communication. It's quick to set up and easy to use, but it may not scale for fast-growing businesses.
Read ReviewBear (for Mac) Review
MSRP: $14.99Pros: Supports Markdown. Good options for exporting. Can import notes from Evernote and other services. Inexpensive Pro account.
Cons: Extremely light on features. For Mac and iOS users only. No option to selectively sync to iOS devices. Syncing requires paid plan.
Bottom Line: Bear is a lightweight among note-taking and syncing apps, although it could meet your needs if you only use macOS and iOS devices and only take simple notes.
Read ReviewSimplenote (Web) Review
MSRP: $0.00Pros: Simple. Apps for a wide variety of devices. Unique sharing options. Reliable search. Supports Markdown on some devices. Free.
Cons: Lacks notebooks or folders for organizing. Only supports text notes. No formatting tools. No Web clipper.
Bottom Line: For a basic note-taking and syncing experience, Simplenote is a reliable, if stripped-down, choice. If simplicity is what you're after, this free service is worth a try.
Read ReviewZoho Notebook (for Mac) Review
MSRP: $0.00Pros: Great implementation of locked notes feature. Can stack notes. Free.
Cons: No Web or Windows apps. Can't upload documents. Limited sorting and organization features.
Bottom Line: Zoho Notebook is a free Mac app that makes note-taking simple, but to be really useful, it needs a web version and better organizational features.
Read ReviewGoogle Keep (Web) Review
MSRP: $0.00Pros: Fast. Customizable labels (tags). Transcribes image text to typed text. Works well with other Google apps. Reminders are well integrated. Free.
Cons: No audio recording ability in the Web app. No desktop apps. Can't mark up images, PDFs. Weak Web clipper. Preview images not well displayed. OCR feature not automatic nor intuitive.
Bottom Line: Google Keep is a free note-taking and syncing app with a nifty OCR feature, but it lacks the features and mobile apps offered by the competition.
Read Review
There are plenty of note-taking apps in the Windows Phone Store and Kicknotes hopes to catch your eye with its variety of ways to create and save notes. Kicknotes has support for typing, drawing and using a voice recorder to create your notes.
In using Kicknotes over the past few days, it comes across as an attractive option for those looking for an easy to use means of creating notes while on the go. Kicknotes is a free app available from the Windows Phone Store.
Kicknotes' primary screen will list any categories of notes you have created along with a few pre-set categories. Categories can be edited or deleted by tapping on the three-dot menu that is on the category title bar. A large + button sits at the bottom of Kicknotes' main page that will pull-up your note creation options.
There is also a hamburger menu button in the upper left corner that will pull up options to:
- View the app's About Page
- View any reminders for notes
- Passcode lock for the app
- A link to Briefcase, a Windows Phone file manager app from the developer
- Backup and Restore options
While Kicknotes does have support to backup and restore your notes, it is a local backup. You tap the backup option to create the backup file and then choose where you want it stored on your Windows Phone. You can save it to your microSD card or a folder on your phone (e.g. documents, downloads, pictures, etc.). It would be nice to see an option to send this file to OneDrive to have it accessible from additional or new devices.
Creating notes is simple. You can jump into a category or tap the '+' button off the main screen of Kicknotes. Notes created outside a named category will be tossed into the 'uncategorized' category. There are six types of notes, which include:
- Credit Card/Bank Account information: Here you can create a note detailing bank account or credit card information that includes the card/account numbers, expiration dates, CVV numbers and PIN numbers.
- Hand Drawn Note: If you need to sketch out a drawing or if it's easier to doodle your notes, this option is for you. You do have a color palette to give your notes a splash of color and you can toggle between pen tip and eraser as needed.
- Voice Recording: This option is great for the times you cannot stop and type or draw out your notes.
- Website Accounts: This note-taking option allows you to document website usernames and passwords. It also has a password generator for those times you need a little help creating a password that contains letters, numbers and symbols.
- Checklist: This note-taking option is great for creating shopping lists or any other To-do style list.
- Free-form note: A more traditional note taking option where you can type out your notes or use a voice to text converter.
Each note style has the option of creating a title and will be date/time stamped. There will also be a small collection of options lining the bottom of each creation screen. For example, you will find a share option at the bottom of Checklist and Free-form notes to email notes. Many of the notes will have buttons to pin the note to your Windows Phone Start Screen or an alarm button where you set a reminder for the note.
Just a quick note on the voice to text converter is that it worked out really well. It was able to filter out my Southern Accent and converted my audible notes to text with a nice level of accuracy. Your results may vary, but I applied a heavy Foghorn Leghorn styled accent and Kicknotes didn't skip a beat in converting the spoken word to text.
Notes are automatically saved when you exit out of the creation screens. You can search for notes by keyword from Kicknotes' primary screen and tapping on the three-dot menu from the notes' title bar offer you the option to pin the note or delete it. Should you need to edit things, just open the note.
Overall Impressions
For the most part, I found Keynotes to be an excellent option for note taking. It has plenty of options on how you create your notes and I like the templates to document bank account/password information. The app can be passcode protected to keep things secure from prying eyes.
I wouldn't mind seeing the voice to text option become easier to access. As is, you open the free form note option the keyboard is automatically displayed. You will need to tap the Windows Phone back button to reveal the menu bar. I think it would be better to have the menu bar displayed on this note taking style, letting the user decide if they want to use the keyboard or voice commands. This isn't a deal breaker but might add to the ease of use.
Anonymous Person Talking With Voice Changer
I can see Kicknotes being an appealing option for those in search of a simple note taking Windows Phone app. Kicknotes is a free app and if you give Kicknotes a try, let us know what you think of things in the comments below.